Juju & Jordash - Unleash The Golem Part 2

Juju & Jordash - Unleash The Golem Part 2
The playfulness of Juju & Jordash's music is often what makes it so rewarding. No matter where their tracks or live sets begin, you can never be quite sure where they're going to end up, or where they might take you along the way. In contrast to their more lighthearted work, however, there's a disconcerting directness to Unleash The Golem Part 2's lead track, "Coffin Train," which chugs onward for 17 sludgy minutes, belching out clouds of dissonance like engine smoke. There's no respite to be found here, just the screech of train wheel upon rail and the suffocating aromas of soot and sweat. As its title implies, "Coffin Train Getaway" on the flip is more fleet footed. It's just as unsettling, though, driven by an acid-flecked bassline that seems to accelerate as the track plays. You could certainly dance to it, but you'd probably need to step outside for air afterwards.

The two Golem 12-inches released so far are the duo's strongest and most self-contained material to date. That's largely thanks to the series' overarching concept, which uses the metaphor of the golem—a creature from Jewish mythology, animated to protect its people but which eventually turns upon its creators—to explore the difficult questions surrounding the current state of Israel. Just as there are no concrete answers to the questions raised—via track titles, artwork and a press release that reads, only half-jokingly, "and who said dance music couldn't be about the Holocaust?"—so the music it contains is terse and ambiguous. These are dark and brooding meditations on very pertinent issues, and in Juju & Jordash's hands, techno feels like the most powerful conduit for their delivery.

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Juju & Jordash found one another through weekly be-bop jams back in the mid 90s, with Juju on guitar and Jordash on piano. Throughout the 1990s, each played in and composed for various jazz and experimental combos by day and, by cover of night, danced in clubs and experimented with synthesizers, drum machines and dance music.
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